Music

$9 million of rare punk memorabilia will be burned to protest the Queen

by Jesse Locke

Throughout 2016, an organization called Punk London is celebrating 40 years of “subversive culture.” This historical series of exhibits and talks is sponsored by the British Film Institute, the British Library, and the Museum of London. Apparently even the Royal Family approve, and that’s a problem for Joe Corré, son of Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood. In protest, Corré plans to burn his collection of rare punk memorabilia, valued at £5 million (or $9 million CDN).

“The Queen giving 2016, the Year of Punk, her official blessing is the most frightening thing I’ve ever heard,” Corré said in a press release issued via Crack Magazine. “Talk about alternative and punk culture being appropriated by the mainstream. Rather than a movement for change, punk has become like a fucking museum piece or a tribute act.”

Is this a protest against capitalist forces on the level of the KLF burning a million pounds or a hypocritical stunt from the businessman behind lingerie company Agent Provocateur and make-up brand Illamasqua? Have a think on it when you pay for these items with your Sex Pistols credit cards.

“A general malaise has now set in amongst the British public,” Corré continues. “People are feeling numb. And with numbness comes complacency. People don’t feel they have a voice anymore. The most dangerous thing is that they have stopped fighting for what they believe in. They have given up the chase. We need to explode all the shit once more.”

Corré has invited others to toss their punk artifacts into the fire at a ceremonial burning on November 26th. This coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Sex Pistols’ “Anarchy in the U.K.”, an anti-establishment anthem that has appeared in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4, and the 2010 reboot of The A-Team.